


Delayed Hope

by nchi_wana



Category: Et Cetera (Manga)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friendship/Love, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 21:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4580190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nchi_wana/pseuds/nchi_wana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mingchao's having regrets. Good thing Alternate's been paying attention.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delayed Hope

He found her sitting under the stars. Their brilliance allowed the faint outline of her form as she sat on a rock staring at the pale disc of the moon. It was cold out. Alternate had anticipated as much and was mindful to take a blanket with him. Not for himself, though. When he approached the forlorn girl, he could see her shivering.

Alternate didn't want to startle Mingchao. Instead, he waited and watched. She'd left her hair down this night, letting the moonlight gleam off the locks. It was a secret of Alternate's that he thought she looked cuter that way. Or maybe it was because it was rare to see her hair like that. That made it special.

These thoughts and feelings surprised him. Even as he took the time to observe Mingchao, his heart started to race. It wasn't often they were alone together. ...Actually, they never were. Knowing this, his heart beat faster.

He loved to hear her talk. Some might find her annoying, but there was an innocence and joy in her words that touched him somehow. Her enthusiasm and optimism were contagious. Alternate had never met anyone like her.

This was why finding her in a state of melancholy disturbed him. What had caused her light to darken? He wanted to find a way to revive that light, which gave him the courage to go to her.

Alternate swallowed. "U-Um... Mingchao?"

She gave a little jump and turned with a hand over her heart. "Alternate, you scared me!" Mingchao noticed the blanket in his hands. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you leave," Alternate explained. "Are you okay?"

The girl turned back to the moon. "I just had to come out here and think."

"About what?"

Mingchao was quiet.

Alternate draped the blanket about her shoulders, but she said nothing. Mingchao was normally so chatty it was out of character for her to be reticent.

Everyone was exhausted from the fight against Gothic just a few days prior. But at least their spirits were high--that is everyone except Mingchao. Ever since they returned to Gocal's restaurant she had tried to put on a mask of happiness, but she wasn't fooling anyone. She insisted she was fine, but Alternate decided he would have to say something. He suspected he knew the problem.

"That was a hard fight," he began. "Especially for you."

Mingchao was as speechless as the stone she sat on. Even the moon had more movement than she did.

"We never would've guessed he was your father," Alternate continued, carefully. "I saw how much it upset you."

Mingchao sniffled. "He made everyone suffer. I can't believe I was--" She hiccuped. "R-Related to him."

As she let the tears flow, Alternate wanted to go to her side, but he stood frozen in place, uncertain in the face of such raw emotion.

"Did I really do the right thing?" Mingchao asked, seemingly to herself. She turned again to Alternate, dewy tears clinging to her lashes and streaking down her face. "Should I have spared him? M-Maybe if he was alive now, he'd see all the bad things he did and be a better person?"

Alternate could understand why she might wonder about this. It had worked for him, after all. But Gothic had been so far gone it wouldn't have been possible to reform him. Alternate was still young, and had been uncertain of himself. It had been easy to tip the scales.

"I'm not sure, Mingchao," he replied. "But you had to stop him somehow. You had no way of knowing how things would end up."

"I killed him," Mingchao whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut and tears cascaded over her cheeks. "I killed my own father!"

She began sobbing, and instantly Alternate was beside her.

"I--I didn't really w-want to," she stuttered. "I didn't mean to. I w-wish he was still--alive. I'll never know him n-now." Mingchao covered her face with her hands.

It was the possibility of what could've been that bothered her so much. Her hopes had come delayed. She hadn't had a chance to think of these things in the midst of fighting her father. Now it was too late. She could only dwell.

Alternate sat beside her as she wept. The stone was just large enough for the two of them, and Mingchao leaned against him in her blanket. She seemed not to be concerned about their closeness, but Alternate's face burned red, from embarrassment and also shame. He liked that she leaned into him, but he felt he was taking advantage of her vulnerability.

There was not much to say. Anything Alternate thought of wouldn't help, so he let Mingchao cry beside him. She cried several minutes, as if she'd been holding it in all this time. As her body rattled with sobs, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It was horrible to see her like this. Mingchao had been their anchor, the glue that held the team together. He wanted to protect her, comfort her... But how does one comfort someone over the fact that they killed their own father--their last living relative? There was no way. Alternate knew that. So all he could do was hold her. He wanted her to feel safe to express her grief and regrets.

After she spent her tears, Mingchao went still and didn't stir again. She had fallen asleep, her cheeks wet and eyelashes glistening. 

Alternate allowed himself the privilege of the moment. He'd wanted to say something earlier but she was asleep before he could say it.

"I'm right here beside you," he said softly.

He then lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the house. The moon lit the way.


End file.
